Saturday Night Live Wiki:What's Going On?
Current Events: What's Going On? Updated 8/21 We don't know a lot about what's going to be happening, but here's what we do know: *'Channel 101', an independant comedy website, has reported that Andy Samberg has joined the cast, and Channel 101 writers Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone have been hired as writers. New 8/20 *Rumors are circulating that Horatio Sanz is leaving, but this is false. Rob Riggle mentioned to some fans at an improv show that Horatio would be returning. New 8/20 *Reports say Seth Meyers pitched a movie to Paramount Pctures about the Colin Farrell/Scissor Sisters episode's "Key Party" sketch, and Lorne Michaels will be producing. This disspells any rumors that Seth will be leaving SNL, since it is unlikely that Lorne would put Seth in an SNL movie and then fire him. New 8/15 *Rob Chambers, a Second City manager, has said that two Second City alumni, Maribeth Monroe and Antoine McKay, have a good chance of joining the cast soon. Topher Owen, another Second City comedian, was reportedly hired, but this has been confirmed as a hoax. Updated 8/21 *'Finesse Mitchell' has confirmed, in a FoxNews interview, and in a comedy routine, that not only will he be returning next season, he is being promoted to repertory castmember, as predicted. Kenan Thompson will also return, and be promoted, as well. *'Darrell Hammond' stated, in an interview, that he plans to stay with SNL for as long as he can. *'Rob Riggle' has confirmed his exit from SNL. *Rob has also confirmed that Amy Poehler, Horatio Sanz and Fred Armisen will be returning, along with Chris Parnell, despite his new sitcom (see below). *'Tina Fey' is pregnant and has a new show in development, so her exit is possible. A new Weekend Update anchor has not been announced, should Tina leave. Tina has confirmed that she is returning, but not appearing in the first few months of the next season to accomodate her maternity leave. *In a related story, Maya Rudolph is also pregnant, and may leave or go on maternity leave, a la Tina Fey (see above). *'Chris Parnell' has a new show coming out on NBC, Thick and Thin as a midseason replacement, and rumours of his exit have been swirling for a while. Despite this, Rob Riggle has confirmed that Chris will return, possibly doing both SNL and Thick and Thin (see above). *Featured player Jason Sudeikis will stay on featured status, since he has only been in 3 episodes of SNL so far, but will most likely be promoted by 2006-2007. *Writer Paula Pell, who will be working on Parnell's sitcom, has left the show. Also reported to have left are Eric Slovin and Leo Allen. Rumors are currently swirling around that there has been a major writer turnover. *The season premiere host and musical guest have not been announced as of yet, but people are speculating that, because of promotional purposes, The Foo Fighters will be the season premiere Musical Guest. *Starting next season, SNL will be broadcast in HD (High Definition), so the opening montage, credits, stage, sets and Weekend Update studio will be changed somewhat to make the best of their HD broadcasts. Checklist For those who are confused, here is a simple checklist of what's going on. Please Note: this information will change at least weekly, as SNL's castmembers are beginning to reveal their fate on SNL, and as insiders toss around names for new castmembers. Returning *Fred Armisen *Tina Fey (Maternity Leave) *Darrell Hammond *Seth Meyers (Movie deal) *Finesse Mitchell (Promoted) *Chris Parnell *Amy Poehler *Horatio Sanz *Jason Sudeikis (Featured) *Kenan Thompson (Promoted) Leaving *Rob Riggle *Paula Pell (Writer) Promoted to Repertory Cast *Finesse Mitchell *Kenan Thompson Pregnant *Tina Fey (Returning) *Maya Rudolph (Situation Unknown) Movie Deals *Seth Meyers Situation Unknown *Rachel Dratch *Will Forte *Maya Rudolph (Pregnant) Joining *Andy Samberg *Akiva Schaffer (Writer) *Jorma Taccone (Writer) **Source: Channel 101 Unconfirmed Rumors and Reports We don't know who all of the new castmembers are right now, but here are a few names being tossed around: *Maribeth Monroe *Antoine McKay **Source: Rob Chambers, Second City manager *Bill Hader